by Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, USA TODAY

by Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, USA TODAY

When President Barack Obama was asked about the murder trial of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, he said "I can't comment on it because it's an active trial."

Now that a jury has found Gosnell guilty on three first-degree murder charges for infants he delivered before snipping their spinal cords, one involuntary manslaughter charge in the botched abortion death of Karnamaya Mongar, and 21 counts of illegal late-term abortions, we can find out what Obama thinks about the case and the country's abortion culture.

It will be particularly interesting given President Obama's personal history. Known as one of the country's fiercest defenders of abortion rights, as an Illinois state senator Obama twice voted against bills that would have "defined any aborted fetus that showed signs of life as a 'born alive infant' entitled to legal protection." He said he viewed the bills as backdoor attacks on a woman's legal right to abortion. He's also given conflicting information about whether he supports the right to late-term abortions such as the ones Gosnell was convicted of performing.

The National Right to Life Committee describes President Obama's abortion positions as extreme, saying "he has opposed curbs on even the most horrific abortion practices."

So now that the trial is over, reporters should ask if President Obama still opposes laws that protect infants that survive abortions. After the school massacre in Newtown, President Obama suggested reforms to the country's gun laws, saying, "If there is even one step we can take to save another child . . . then surely we have an obligation to try." So let's find out the specifics of his proposed abortion reforms post-Gosnell.

The Gosnell trial's gruesome details about the cold-blooded killing of infants, the mistreatment of their corpses, racist practices and the disgusting conditions of the clinic have shocked the nation's conscience regarding the culture of abortion. This trial and this verdict will generate serious discussion about abortion policy in the United States and elsewhere.